Oldhim Decktech + Sideboard

Introduction

Hello, everyone! I’m Álvaro Toledano, spanish content creator (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaH9S8gXEUYjHiOQbYIwqhw) and Oldhim main since Prism retired from the CC format. I’ve been hammering opponents with the old man for a long time, and he’s carried me to a top 64 at worlds and various top finishes in tier 2 events.

Today I introduce you to a midrange list that’s fairly easy to play and performs nicely against a broad field, which is what you’ll probably see at your last armories before Outsiders comes out in a few weeks. There are some card choices that may vary if you want to adjust to specific metagames or to punish certain strategies that may be prominent in your LGS. I’ll comment on some of those at the end and the reasoning behind their absence/when to consider them as replacements.

The Deck

Decklist + sideboard – https://fabrary.net/decks/01GSYG6P9K21XHND2FG54ZFYX7

Oldhim Midrange Kugane

Class: Guardian
Hero: Oldhim, Grandfather of Eternity
Weapons: Titan’s Fist
Equipment: Arcane Lantern, Crater Fist, Crown of Seeds, Fyendal’s Spring Tunic, Ironhide Legs, Nullrune Boots, Nullrune Gloves, Rampart of the Ram’s Head, Stalagmite, Bastion of Isenloft

(3) Command and Conquer (red)
(3) Endless Winter (red)
(3) Glacial Footsteps (red)
(2) Oasis Respite (red)
(1) Pulverize (red)
(2) Pummel (red)
(3) Sink Below (red)
(2) Smashing Good Time (red)
(3) Spinal Crush (red)
(2) Staunch Response (red)
(2) Zealous Belting (red)
(1) Pummel (yellow)
(3) Autumn’s Touch (blue)
(2) Blizzard (blue)
(3) Brothers in Arms (blue)
(3) Channel Lake Frigid (blue)
(3) Cranial Crush (blue)
(3) Debilitate (blue)
(3) Disable (blue)
(1) Evergreen (blue)
(3) Glacial Footsteps (blue)
(3) Macho Grande (blue)
(1) Pummel (blue)
(2) Rouse the Ancients (blue)
(1) Sow Tomorrow (blue)
(3) Tear Asunder (blue)
(3) Thunder Quake (blue)
(3) Winter’s Bite (blue)
(3) Winter’s Grasp (blue)

See the full deck @ https://fabrary.net/decks/01GSYG6P9K21XHND2FG54ZFYX7

For starters, let’s discuss the core. These are your blues, your resource base, plus the pummels, the cards that you will be playing in every single game.

Mainboard

Two of the key concepts of this deck and this hero in general are value and disruption. Most of your cards are, by themselves, more valuable than the cards in your opponents decks, basically by virtue of requiring more resources to be played. The important part here is that paying resources uses cards from your hand, but not from your deck, which means that attacking will always lead you to have more cards than your opponent.

Does that mean that you will always just attack? Of course not, because many other heroes will trade value for efficiency, and if you just try to race with your blues you’ll be toast. That’s where disruption comes in: when you add your multiple on-hit effects to the equation, you are proposing more than just pure damage, forcing the other side to engage in the thing that you are absolutely the best at: blocking. If your attacks are so threatening that the other player has to block, you are almost certainly winning that turn cycle. Concatenate a few of those and the game will be yours. If only we had a weapon with an on-hit effect…

Last but not least, we have the pummels. They add disruption to cards that usually would not have it, while also helping force through your other on-hit effects, swinging many games by themselves. Sometimes just the threat of pummeling will cause your opponents to make mistakes, playing around something that maybe they shouldn’t. The 2-1-1 split contributes to that mind game, alongside the ability of cycling hidden cards with Crown of Seeds.

Sideboard

As of the sideboard, in most matchups you’ll just add cards up to a 60 card deck. As a rule of thumb, you want to prioritize disruption, then add the most efficient defensive tools for the matchup, completing the list with the high value reds if you still have room for them. Going over 60 cards is sometimes fine or even desired, so if you are in doubt don’t be afraid of doing so. The only matchups where you absolutely want to stay at 60 cards are Wizard (density of blues + you don’t block as much) and Dash (to find Smashing Good Time asap). On the other end, against other guardians you probably want to include every card in your list, since the value point made before doesn’t apply and you might need to trade down in cards a few times.

Equipment

Crown of Seeds, Tunic and Titan’s Fist are a mainstay. Some players carry Crown of Providence for the faster matchups, mostly Fai, but the deck is perfectly fine against them as is and the extra slots in the board add some flexibility to better fight other strategies.

Matchups

Wizard: 2x Nullrune + Lantern. Pretty obvious, you want to have as much AB. Crown acts as a pseudo-AB (yellow Aether Icevein, Aether Wildfire) and Tunic is very valuable to get rid of frostbites.

Runeblade: Crater Fist + Nullrune Boots + Stalagmite. The two temper equipments are way more efficient than Ironhide Legs, so this one is also very clear. You might consider 2 AB but you probably won’t need it. If you really want to prevent the 2 damage from the Rosetta Thorn, use the prevention of Crown of Seeds + 1AB of the Earth React and you’ll be fine.

Dromai: Crater Fist + Nullrune Boots + Rampart. The AB is for Burn Them All, and the shield allows you to safely ignore a couple of small dragons while you hit them hard to the face. Also, Stalagmite doesn’t create a frostbite if you block a dragon, so its value plummets drastically; however, if you know that the Dromai is a red line, all out attack version, you can consider it.

Fai, Brute (both), Boltyn: Crater Fist + Ironhide + Stalagmite. Although through different means, all those decks have a pattern in common: they have a few regular turns, mixed with a couple of very explosive turns. Those are your Art of War – Bloodrush Bellow – Lumina Ascension turns, respectively. You want to save Stalagmite for those turns, trying to make the frostbite matter the most.

Every other hero: Crater Fist + Ironhide + Rampart. Rampart value in the remaining matchups is tremendous, blocking for 3, 6 or even 10 against Dash, denying Mask of Momentum triggers by making Kodachis useless, or simply adding even more defensive value to a deck that already has plenty.

Tips and Tricks

• Although this is not a list focused on fatiguing every opponent, you can do so very reasonably in a few matchups, mainly the ones where you play Rampart. However, the way to do this is not just blocking everything out, but outvaluing your opponents and using your weapon. We don’t have Winter’s Wail anymore, but pitching a card to hit for 4 is still pretty decent.
• Use your Tunic effectively. It has many uses in this deck, both offensively and defensively, so unless you have a very good reason to hold on to it (usually setting up a Command+Pummel with a blue), you should be taking advantage of it as soon as you reach the third counter.
• When deciding what cards to block with, try to hold onto your Tear Asunders and your dominate attacks, they are great late game tools. Also remember that Tear Asunder affects your hammer!
• The way many decks are able to push damage against defensive decks is setting up 5 card hands. Try to deny that with your ice reaction as much as you can. Keeping a disruptive piece in arsenal is also a good plan, since sometimes the opponent will force an off turn on themselves to be able to set up, and that’s when you would want to punish them.
• Speaking of arsenal, Crown of Seeds is a fantastic card, but pitching a whole card just to prevent 1 damage is very often a bad idea. Try to combine it with other effects that use resources. You can also activate it in your own turn to virtually gain 2 resources or search for disruption if you have extra cards lying around that you cannot use.
• You should choose to go second against the aggro decks and Rhinar, and go first versus everyone else. If you go first, attack. It’s either free damage or 2-3 cards that you take from your opponent. The only exception would be Levia if they play a Blood Debt focused list. If you chose to go second it’s because you want to drag the opponent to the point where they have to block (as previously mentioned), and the “free” attack can go a long way.

Some card considerations

• Chokeslam / Crush the Weak. Very good disruptive reds against Briar and Fai respectively. I prioritize Endless Winter because I believe it is much more important in tougher matchups (Iyslander, Dash) than those two, but you could make a case for them.
• Enlightened Strike. I like Zealous Belting and its synergy with pummel, but ES is a great card, very versatile, and it would also fit that slot nicely.
• Tome of Fyendal / Mage Master Boots. I don’t like that combo in this deck, since you don’t have many ways to capitalize the extra cards nor do you need that extra value. Maybe in an even more aggressive version it might fit.
• Imperial Warhorn / Remembrance. This combination is used in the fully fatigue deck to ensure a victory against Dash and Iyslander. The issue is that the deck plays very slowly, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone that doesn’t have plenty of experience with the hero and/or isn’t able to play lightning fast.
• Fate Foreseen. Great defensive tool, but I think Sink Below is better and I didn’t want to load the deck with reactions to emphasize the proactive plan.
• Sigil of Solace. Quite good against decks that try to burst you out (Wizard and Viserai), mediocre against everyone else.
• Heart of Fyendal. If you already have it…sure, why not.

I hope I helped you getting started with our beloved old man. Unless Outsiders really turns everything upside down, this hero should remain a force to be reckoned with for the foreseeable future, and this might be a good time to get used to him. Good luck in Rathe!